Processing for silver halide color photographic material (hereinafter, also denoted simply as photographic material) is basically comprised of two steps of color development and desilvering, in which the desilvering is further comprised of bleaching and fixing steps. In addition, a washing, there is also included a washing, rinsing or stabilizing step is also included.
In the stage of color development, exposed silver halide is reduced to silver and a simultaneously oxidized color developing agent is reacted with a coupler to form a dye. In this process, halide ions resulting from reduction of silver halide is dissolved out into a color developer solution and accumulated therein. In the stage of desilvering, silver resulting from color development is oxidized (or bleached) by an oxidizing agent (or bleaching agent) and subsequently, the whole of silver salts is removed by a fixing agent in the form of a soluble salt from a photographic material. There is also known a combined bleaching and fixing process (or bleach-fixing process).
Recently, color processing trends toward rapid access from the needs for digitization and low replenishment in view of global environment protection, and accordingly, high-active processing has been desired. To achieve the high-active processing, there are known a method in which development accelerators such as benzyl alcohol are used, a method in which processing is performed at a relatively high temperature of a color developing solution, a method in which the concentration of a color developing agent is increased, and a method in which stirring in color processing is strengthened. However, these methods include various problems. Thus, the use of a development accelerator such as benzyl alcohol actually increases an environmental load, processing at a relatively high temperature of a color developing solution markedly increases oxidation or evaporation of a color developer solution, having no suitability for low-volume processing, increasing the concentration of a color developing agent produces problems such as deposition of the color developing agent, and strengthening stirring in color processing often results in oxidation of a color developer solution or physical flaws of a photographic material.
There is described, for example, in JP-B Nos. 6-75178 and 6-75179-(hereinafter, the term JP-B refers to Japanese Patent Publication) a technique of the use of a N-hydroxyalkyl-substituted p-phenylenediamine type color developing agent in the combination with color developing agents. However, rapid processability in this color developing step is a level of 120 to 150 sec., which is not a technique for achieving rapid processing of less than 60 sec. Moreover, it was also proved that this technique involved such a problems that staining caused by penetration of a color developing agent easily occurred in the edge portion of color print paper. Specifically when processed in low-volume, this problem not only became marked but there was also produced a problem that it was difficult to maintain sufficient process stability.